To describe the last minutes of the deciding game against Queens Park Rangers as nail biting would be an understatement. It was a real matter of death for the teeming fans majority of them unborn 44 years ago when City last won the league.

You may therefore excuse them for storming the pitch after the game. Man City league triumph was all new to them and they are entitled to their wild jubilation more especially when they snatched the cup from the jaws of their less noisy neighbours United on the brink of retaining then cup following their 1-0 victory over Sunderland.

City’s last minute surge in scoring twice to win the cup is a fantastic achievement but the wonder is why the United- Sunderland match should end five minutes before the City-QPR encounter when both fixtures were scheduled to start at the same time.

My good friend Joe who is naturally a suspicious character sent me a text saying he felt most uncomfortable when the United –Sunderland match went on recess well ahead of the City-QPR match when both matches were supposed to have started at the same to ensure fair play.

This would have been a huge issue in my part of the world but it is generally accepted that the English premiership has a sense of appreciation for true sportsmanship and fair play and so this is no big deal.

My candid verdict is that no matter how you look at it, City have done enough this season to deserve the ultimate. To beat defending champions Man United home and away especially with that astonishing 6-1 victory at Old Trafford is big plus. No wonder that seven goal advantage at the expense of United played a major part in deciding the ultimate Champion.

At this juncture I would like to salute Alex Ferguson for his bravery in managing  to steer United to a straight path after that shocking mauling by his “noisy neighbours” and  fought doggedly till the end only to lose by a ”short head” as the horse racing people put it.

Such exciting finishes to a league are rare. Just take my home country Ghana’s league for example. The winner was decided four clear matches to the end. Asante Kotoko has had an unassailable lead and when they drew two back to back matches interest in the competition began to wane.

You could count the spectators in the stands.  Kotoko’s third match against relegation haunted Bechem in Kumasi saw an almost empty stadium but it was good game that Kotoko won 4-3.

With two more games to end the season it is hoped Kotoko, the greatest crowd pullers will play well against Ashgold at Obuasi and make their coronation on May 27 with the last match against Tema Youth in Kumasi worth celebrating.

Talking about celebration brings to mind the brilliant effort by Berekum Chelsea in qualifying for the group stage of the Africa champions league in their first attempt Remarkable victories over Raja Casablanca and Cotton Club from Cameroon have won them great applause and it is hoped they would take inspiration from their mentors, the original Chelsea of Stamford Bridge and at least reach the final of the Africa Champions league.

Who says there is nothing in a name?

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

I thought that all is settled with the Kwasi Appiah- Maxwell Konadu pair for the Black Stars coaching business.

GFA executive member Randy Abbey started the debate with his public declaration that Konadu couldn’t serve two masters. In other words he should either be with the national team or Kotoko.

This is in sharp contrast to the official position of Kotoko as expressed by executive chairman Dr Sarpong that Konadu would still be Kotoko head coach on paper so he could attend to the club any time there are no international programmes for the national team.

I think this is a fair arrangement. The young man has proved that he has the ability to unearth talents and polish them to be stars.

He did it with Wa All Stars and Nathaniel Asamoah, Sabato Mohammed, Fatau Mohammed and Ben Acheampong were regular faces in the uncrowned 2011-2012 league champions Asante Kotoko squad .

It is my considered view that Konadu must be kept busy with a top club like Kotoko and move to the national team in time of need.

Even though handling a national team is more prestigious with all the attractive incentives in hard currency, for his age Konadu needs to be kept busy with a club where the challenges are many with the busy marathon domestic league, FA Cup, champions’ league and other special competitions.

Honestly I think handling of national teams should be limited to veterans in the coaching business. You have so much time on your hands it can be boring.

Arsenal’s astute manager Arsene Wenger was asked the other day whether he was interested in handling the England squad and he aptly explained the marked difference between club and national teams.

He argued soundly that it was more exciting and challenging to handle a club where you at times play three matches in a week. You are close with the players every time.

There is a nine month activity in the year and you get real job satisfaction. National teams are restricted to continental competitions, occasional friendlies and the big one, World Cup, which of course is every four years.

The standing joke is that what most of these national coaches do is to be gallivanting from pillar to post pretending to be monitoring the performance of national players in the various leagues.

Without any biases I can envisage Konadu being the Alex Ferguson of Kotoko. With youth on his side he can easily handle Kotoko for the next two decades and this will definitely help the national team in the long run.

He has a long way to go and he has started right. It is good the national thinking is we should have local coaches to handle the Black Stars.

The impression should however not be given that Konadu does not want to serve his nation. It’s a big honour to be attached to the national team, but my argument is that he should still handle Kotoko when off duty from national programmes because it is at club level that his real ingenuity would prevail and not supervising a galaxy of professionals who already know what they are about and need only bonding to ensure team spirit.

For the general development of the game from the grassroots it is time the national coaches were allowed to assist the clubs from time to time.

That was the practice in the past. For example in the run-up to Kotoko’s first Africa Cup triumph in 1971 national coaches Ben Kwofie and Aggrey Fynn were attached to the team and the result is now history.

Ladies and gentlemen, my submission is that Maxwell Konadu must not be allowed to idle about when the national team is on their usual long recess. Kotoko must be allowed to benefit from his exploits.

I can’t see him around the national team for more that five years but he could be with Kotoko for the next decade. You doubt this?.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

The two goal lead that Manchester United squandered against Everton was their undoing and with that scrappy show against Manchester City their chances of retaining the premiership title is extremely slim even though both Manchester clubs are at par on points.

I am mindful of the fact that football follows no logic but with Manchester City so fired up and with only one match to go, it would need a brave man to predict against them to win the trophy after more than four decades in the wilderness.

I trust that City boss Mancini would learn from the mistakes of Ferguson and continue to press the accelerator till the last hurdle against relegation threatened Queens Park Rangers.

It is good to learn from the mistakes of others just like the Ghana Football Association has done in the search of a national coach for the Black Stars.

After the rigmarole the choice of former national skipper Kwasi Appiah can be described as perfect. A man of few words, Kwasi has proved over the years that he had the credentials to be a high caliber coach.

I have followed his football career since he hit the limelight with Prestea Mine Stars in 1981 and his subsequent exploits with Asante Kotoko, the Black Meteors (Under 23) and the Black Stars and can vouch for his good manners.

You can however not take his gentility for weakness. He has a mind of his own and not the type who can neither take a decision nor stick to one.

I don’t intend raking any skeletons but the way he was crudely removed as national skipper prior to the 1992 Cup of Nations in Senegal cannot be swept under the carpet.

What happened to Abedi Pele the FA’s favourite replacement for Kwasi Appiah now belongs to history.  And now by twist of fate Abedi has two sons in the Black Stars, Dede and Jordan who are reportedly having problems with humility.

But I can bet with my last cedi that Kwasi Appiah is the last person who will bear grudge against any person. Surely he would also be the last person to visit the sins of a father on his children.

It is my fervent hope that he would get the cooperation of all the players and mould them to make the black star of Africa shine brilliantly on the horizon of world football.

Kwasi Appiah is quite an affable chap and from available reports, you can see he has the national support to deliver the goods similar to the support Pep Guardiola had been enjoying in making Barcelona such a strong team.

But despite all this massive support, Pep has decided to quit because of the team’s recent string of failures.  This is quite a brave move and I expect Kwasi to follow this example as soon as he fails in his ambition to succeed.

Talking about coaches reminds me about the trouble England went through before picking Roy Hodgson  the Three Lions. “No where cool” this is the signboard on a mummy truck in my country.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

Maxwell Konadu of league leaders Asante Kotoko, Yaw Acheampong of second placed Ashgold and Charles Akunnor of third placed Hearts of Oak were all playmates of the trenchant national Under 23 team, Black Meteors, that won bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and they are hitting the headlines as talented coaches.

I have a special affinity for the Barcelona Olympic squad for I was team leader in my capacity as member of the management committee headed by Prof Atta Mills, now President of the Republic.

Unfortunately, Akunnor missed the Barcelona Games through injury but he was part of the squad that competed in the qualifying series.

He was quite recently signed on to handle unstable former champions Accra Hearts of Oak and he led the team to their first victory in seven matches on Sunday, courtesy 1-0 defeat of the once dreaded Aduana Stars at Dormaa Ahenkro.

Maxwell Konadu after a brilliant spell with unsung Wa All Stars last season took over the mantle from a bungling Serbian coach at Asante Kotoko and he is on the verge of supervising the club’s 22^nd league triumph.

With eight matches to end the 2011-2012 league Kotoko are topping the table with eight points gap followed by Ashgold being handled by Yaw Acheampong

Yaw Acheampong who once captained Ashgold during their glorious days in the nineties, has steered Ashgold to an amazing seven matches win on the trot that has catapulted them from the relegation zone to a sniff near the trophy.

Keen observers are tickled that this trio is doing so well at a time the debate is raging whether to engage a local coach or foreigner for the senior national team, Black Stars.

It is the wish of many patriotic football fans that these young coaches could soon blossom to gain enough confidence to handle the highly volatile Black Stars.

With the continuing saga of Ghana having contractural problems with foreign coaches both at club and national levels, it stands to reason that the FA is being careful about the call from certain quarters to get a foreign coach.

But they should not keep too long because the crowded international fixtures are not likely to wait for any slow boats.

I think football historians would have to unravel the mystery surrounding Ghana’s inability to avoid controversy with departing foreign coaches.

This problem has existed since the days of Sports Director Ohene Djan in 1963 when he had problems with Hungarian coach Josef Ember who eventually had to be employed by Asante Kotoko.

Germans Burkhard Ziese, Ralph Zumdick and Portuguese Mario Barreto all had problems with their “retiring packages” and its no wonder that Serbian  Goran Stevanovic is exploiting  Ghana’s bad record  with foreign coaches to make some undeserved gargantuan claims following his dismissal.

Incidentally, the Serbian’s claims have coincided with the harsh FIFA ruling against Ghana’s top club Kumasi Asante Kotoko to pay almost 100,000 dollars compensation to German Coach Hans-Dieter Schmidt who was allegedly wrongfully sacked by the club in 2005.

The amount is to be paid within 30 days or Kotoko face the possibility of being demoted to second division.

It’s no joke and club chairman Dr K.K.Sarpong has won admiration for his prompt action to settle the bill. His decision to quickly use the club’s premier league sponsorship package of 50,000 dollars as advance payment clearly shows his impeccable administrative acumen.

It is no surprise that the club’s numerous supporters have all embraced his appeal to make donations to clear the mess.

No matter how you look at it, this is really money down the drain and it is hoped all Ghanaian clubs including the Football Association will learn some lessons from it and make sure that future contracts with coaches especially the foreigners are made in clear straightforward language and respected.

At this juncture you may like to ask whether Ghanaian born ex-French national skipper Marcel Desailly will be treated as local or foreign coach if he is given the job. Well, that is food for thought but from what has been happening over the years I wholly agree with a friend of mine who said sarcastically that Ghana needs coaching lessons

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

PS: Apologies to my readers for the long absence. This was due to circumstances beyond my control.

In Ghana, Berekum Chelsea are stoutly defending  the league title they won last season  and are third on the log eight points behind leaders Asante  Kotoko.

In addition, the Berekum boys have made a great debut in the Africa champions’ league by eliminating Liberian side LISCR on a 5-0 aggregate. Admittedly, Liberia may not currently be a strong football force but Berekum deserve applause for the confident manner they showed their class- a 2-0 away win and 3-0 at home is commendable by any standards.

Berekum’s next opponent will be veteran campaigners Raja of Casablanca and that is where they would have to excel to avoid an early exit like the threat facing their mentors in the European champions’ league.

In one of their worst seasons, Chelsea have been disappointing both at home and abroad. Player apathy and board room wranglings have conspired to rob The Blues of any honour and the fall guy once again is the manager.

Honestly the fast rate at which managers are sacked from Chelsea makes Stamford Bridge managers’ endangered species.

Eight managers in eight years is a little bit on the higher side and if club owner Abramovich does not realise the fact that money cannot buy class, the rigmarole will never cease.

The Russian millionaire must be a bit accommodating and try to emulate the fine examples of Manchester United and Arsenal who have proved that stability on the technical bench promotes team spirit and enormous success.

I have been greatly touched by the stand taken by Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger who have expressed deep concern about the dismissal of Andre Villas- Boas who was barely a year in charge at Stamford Bridge. What is happening at Chelsea is disturbing.

The chief executive of League Managers’ Association, Richard Bevan hit the nail right on the head when he said says “Chelsea are becoming an embarrassment”.

He is damn right. All the well meaning supporters of the club want to bury their heads in shame. Too bad.

Perhaps, it is to avoid such an embarrassment that the Ghana Football Association has given itself enough time to decide whether or not to sack national coach Goran Stevanovic for the poor show in the recent African Cup of Nations.

There is a crowded programme for the 2013 Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup qualifying series and it does seem too prudent to change managers except for very compelling reasons. And I don’t see any. Arsene Wenger for all the mess he caused in the first round of the English Premiership was allowed free hand and now see the results. He is winning left and right.

The official report on AFCON 2012 shows clearly that player indiscipline was the bane of the Black Stars poor show.

The GFA should tackle this canker with dispatch. Selection must be based on players willing to serve the nation and all will be well.

It is my considered opinion that Serbian coach Stevanovic must be allowed to complete his contract more especially when it has been explained that the puzzling diplomatic reshuffling involving Ghana and Serbia vis- a- vis Kosovo has nothing to do with football coaches.  You don’t have to cut your nose to spite your face.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

From the archives

March 7 1999: Black Satellites of Ghana beat Nigeria 1-0 to win Africa Under-20 Cup at Accra Stadium.Cameroun beat Zambia 2-1inmatvh for third place.

If you come to think of it that the cup final between Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire was played a few kilometres from the scene of that terrible air disaster then the ‘believers’ may have a point.

The Zambians also made a meal of it by laying wreaths at the site of the disaster and displaying posters telling the world they were taking inspiration from their departed brothers. May be this gave them a psychological boost because the fighting spirit they displayed in dismissing the so called pre-tournament favourites- Senegal, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire was simply amazing.

Much more amazing was the manner both their opponents in the semi-final and final, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire both missed crucial penalty kicks taken by their best strikers, Asamoah Gyan and Didier Drogba respectively. Some call it African magic but for you know it could be sheer coincidence.

On a more serious note I believe sincerely that it is good for football that major championship titles are spreading to hitherto ‘unknown’ places. Zambia winning the Africa Cup for the first time following Spain’s example of snatching the FIFA World Cup also for the first time should be happy news for FIFA boss Sepp Blatter’s often trumpeted expansion programme

The reality is that the so called big names in Africa football have been given a rude awakening and they would have to restrategise for the upcoming crowded fixtures for both the 2013 tournament and the 2014 World Cup preliminaries.

It is hoped Euro 12 will also provide such exciting shocks and thrills. It is my wish that England, the home of the game will quickly sort out their managerial and captainship issues and put up a more credible performance in Euro 12 than what we saw at the World Cup in South Africa.

Unlike England, my country Ghana does not put too much premium on public pronouncements by either the manager or captain.

Coach Goran Stevanovic told the world before the start of AFCON he would quit if Ghana did not win the Cup.  He appears to have shifted grounds. He now says it’s time to think and he is most likely to be left off the hook.

Who captains the team in Ghana is also no big deal at all. Just count the number who captained the team in the ill-fated AFCON 12.   I hope you will get the figure right.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports

FROM THE ARCHIVES

April 5th 1994: Nigeria beat Cote d’Ivoire 6-4 on penalties in the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunis. In the other semi-final, Zambia beat Mali 4-0.

The flamboyant sports administrator said, “In a competition like this, no medals can be said to be inferior”.

This was in direct response to his critics who took the star packed Republikans to the cleaners for not reaching the final that saw Oryx of Cameroun beating Stade of Mali to win the competition staged in Ghana.

I would like to borrow Ohene Djan’s words of inspiration and urge Ghana’s Black Stars to go for the bronze in Saturday’s losing semi- finalists’ match of AFCON 2012 against Mali in Malabo because  the medal cannot be said to be inferior under the circumstances.

To place third among 16 competitors cannot be said to be too bad a performance and Ghana should be able to overcome the shocking loss to Zambia in the semi-finals and go for the bronze.

Don’t forget that even when Ghana hosted the tournament in 2008, the Stars had to struggle to win the bronze at the expense of Cote d’Ivoire.

May be this was what motivated them to reach the final in 2010 only to lose narrowly to Egypt.

Obviously it was the absence of Egypt in the current competition that convinced analysts to put Ghana among the strong favourites to win the cup.

They started quite well but the lacklustre show in the crucial semi-final against Zambia did not help matters against a tactically disciplined Zambian side that deservedly carried the day. Now there is no choice but to go for the third choice medal to bring the medal tally to three in a row- 2008, 2010, 2012.

It’s not going to be easy though. It could be a tricky affair.  Ghana beat Mali 2-0 in the second round and straightaway I would say history is not on the side of Ghana.

In the 1968 championships in Ethiopia, the Black Stars beat Congo in the second round only to lose the final against the same side.

History can repeat itself unless the Black Stars approach the game with much more seriousness than they did against Zambia the giant killers who may not be a second time lucky in their cup final clash against the top class professionals from Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday

Just as I was about to finish this write up my good friend ,Kwaku Busanga , who always conjures reasons for the defeat of the Black Stars  said Ghana was not interested in keeping the Cup for only a year since the next championships come off next year  to start a cycle that would avoid clashing with the World Cup year.

Sour grapes you may say but that is a typical football fanatic for you.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

April 10th1994: Nigeria beat Zambia 2-1 to win Africa Cup in Tunis.Cote d’Ivoire beat Mali 3-1 to win bronze

Having beaten Mali, the conquerors of Guinea in the second round, the Black Stars had a psychological advantage over Guinea and so when midfielder Agyeman Badu gave them the curtain raiser from a well-constructed corner kick the expectation was that the Black Stars could get a couple more goals.

But the Guineans showed why they got six goals against Botswana. They use the wings effectively and the Black Stars had to sweat to contain the slippery defence splitting incursions from the flanks.

Top marksman Abdoul Camara reminded me of his late compatriot dribbling wizard Petit Sory who stole the show in the 1970 Cup of Nations in Sudan and gave Ghana’s defence pivoted around Oliver Acquah and John Eshun plenty to worry about.

Camara’s equalizer for Guinea was typical striker’s goal, quite cheeky and there is the temptation to blame Ghanaian goalie Kwarasey for poor anticipation. The credit should go to Camara for his vision but this does not hide the fact Kwarasey appears to have aerial fragilities these days.

The knockout stage does not give room for any second guessing and Serbian Coach Goran Stevanovic should be ready to read the game well.  Ghana’s next opponents, Tunisia play like Guinea and it’s going to be tough.

Not many Ghanaian football fans are enthused about the Serbian trademark tactical play which does not appear too impressive even though you may say it produces results.

My good friend Vandidi, an ardent football analyst and historian, obviously agitated, sent me this text after the Ghana- Guinea game. “Unimpressive Milovan- like football against a 10 man Guinea. This coach promised attacking football for Ghana. Where is it?”

For starters Milovan was the Serbian who took Ghana to the last Cup of Nations in Angola and the World Cup in South Africa. Can anybody answer Vandidi’s question to Stevanovic.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Black Stars squad for 1994 Cup of Nations in Tunisia;

Edward Ansah,Simon Addo,Anthony Osei Kojo,Emmanuel Ampiah,Tony Baffoe, Agyeman Duah, Emmanuel Armah, Frempong Manso, Frank Amankwa, Bernard Whyte,Afo Dodoo, Kofi Mbeah, Abedi Pele, Yaw Acheampong, Sam Johnson, Odartey Lamptey, Alex Opoku, Anthony Yeboah, Prince Opoku, C.K Akunnor, Kwame Ayew and Laud Oscar.